Budget 2019: Landlords’ relief brought forward

Tenants should have received stronger protections, housing campaigners saidLEAH FARRELL/ROLLINGNEWS.IE

Paschal Donohoe’s decision to bring forward the restoration of 100 per cent mortgage interest relief for landlords should have been accompanied by stronger protections for tenants, housing campaigners have said.

Changes announced by the finance minister yesterday will allow landlords to deduct 100 per cent of the interest they pay on mortgages attached to rental properties. Currently, they are entitled to deduct 85 per cent. The raised relief had been set to come into force in 2021 but will instead apply from January 1, 2019.

Niamh Randall, a spokesman for Simon Communities, said her organisation was not against landlords receiving tax incentives but that the relief announced by the finance minister should have been accompanied by measures to help tenants.

She called on the government…

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